Monday, 31 July 2017

Summer Brights

Here is a post filled with summer colour today......both indoors and out we are surrounded by summer brights..........

....i've been making lots of english paper pieced diamonds inspired by my star quilt (on the cover of my book below) and using the same templates but with a few tweaks for a different effect......

............using old fabrics, new fabrics ....exploring my fabric stash anew and even snipping bits off long hoarded favourites i am making a huge scrappy diamond collection..........

...............and then turning them into scrappy stars.....and then hexie blocks with some solid fabrics....

.............and a little applique circle in the middle, a bit like a dresden or a flower.....

................having a lot of fun with all the pattern and colour...........

..............and still in between times working on our garden........lots of flowers and colour inspiration there like these daisies......

..............and the border becoming even more lush after the torrential rain we had last week.....

..............and look....we have a hollyhock.....it has grown to a wonderful height (and has only a tiny bit of snail and slug damage to the lower leaves!)......so happy we grew a hollyhock and now we'll get more......

.............here's a close up...........it looks so beautiful with all those petals though i love the simpler kinds too............love these flowers...they look like pom poms.....

.................a quick picture from the greenhouse below with busy lizzies and geraniums flowering in the heat..............

..............and now here we are already at the end of july....it has gone so fast my star-spangled birthday month.........looking forward to august though with lots of time with our little grandchildren....seaside....gardens......outings....friends............lots of crafting and sewing.....

.................thank you so much for dropping by dear readers and for the lovely comments you leave me..............wishing you all a very happy august wherever you may be with lots of sunshine and plenty of crafty inspirations........back soon xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

23 comments:

I love your beautiful frilly hollyhocks Helen....I'm still waiting for mine to bloom, it seems to be taking ages!Lots of lovely floral delights and your patchwork is amazing!Wishing you a lovely August!V x

Your flowers are so luscious! Hollyhocks remind me of my childhood but we didn't have full ones like yours...those are awesome! We had the really old fashioned ones with single petals in all different colors. Everyone had them 'back in the day'. My Mother's name was Isabel Elizabeth but she was always called Izzy or Lizzie so I need to get some of those busy lizzies for sure. The yellow flowers with the orange almost look fake with their wrinkled petals like they are silk flowers instead of real. My daisies are blooming too...what a happy flower they are and they always make me smile. I love your paper piecing and with the little circle in the middle...those fabrics are so summery. You have a lot to look forward to come August! The heat and humidity has let up here which is such a relief....now I need to get outside and do some major work! LOL! Enjoy your beautiful summer! Hugs ~ Sam

Helen,A truly summery post today! Beautiful flowers and fabric diamonds. Looking forward to seeing the finished quilt. We have been enjoying beautiful weather here the last few days, very hard to stay inside. I prefer outdoor activities like puttering in the flowers or sewing in my "little house" studio. Thank you for sharing.Mickie, Indiana USA

Happy August to you, Helen! I can't believe we're 2/3s through the long-awaited summer. Eek! We don't get to go on our beloved lake camping trip this Aug. because my husband is having back problems. It's so sad. But hopefully they will find out what is wrong and fix it. I love all your pretty quilt diamond colors. What a magician you are with quilting! ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

Beautiful patchwork Helen...I love the fabrics you've chosen...it's going to look so pretty and your hollyhock is gorgeous!Hope you have a lovely weekend and a happy and creative start to August (this year is just flying by, isn't it?)Susan x

Just visiting your site for the first time, after hearing about you through Marilyn's blog, and she is so right, what a gorgeous little spot you have here! Love the fabrics and colors you have chosen to make the blocks, they are beautiful! I agree that summer is passing by all too quickly! Your hollyhock flowers are gorgeous, wow!

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about me

I am a designer, author, illustrator, stitcher and I just love crafting and making things. I live on the North West coast of England with my lovely husband. My family mean the world to me - I have two amazing grown up daughters and three sweet grandchildren - two boys and a girl.